RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Açu Petróleo will resume plans for an initial public offering later this year to finance expansion, the oil terminal operator’s CEO Victor Bomfim said.
The company, a joint venture between Prumo Logística and Oiltanking, is to use the IPO proceeds to finance a R$2.5 billion (US$503 million) storage tank project at its Rio de Janeiro facilities to connect to Brazil’s pipeline network, Bomfim said in an interview Tuesday.
The company seeks to leverage Brazil’s growing oil exports. Its terminal at the Port of Açu is close to Brazil’s two main offshore oil basins and handles 25% of the country’s oil exports.
Its main customers include Royal Dutch Shell and Petrobras. The company’s license allows it to handle 1.2 million barrels per day, and the terminal’s exports are expected to reach 400,000 barrels per day this year.
“We are the only ones with capacity,” Bomfim said. “Production in Brazil has been increasing, and the refining park has remained constant, so all growth must be exported.”
Brazil’s oil exports are expected to double in five to seven years as Petrobras and other producers develop existing offshore discoveries, he said.
Açu Petróleo could sell a minority stake in the IPO, with Prumo and Oiltanking remaining as controlling shareholders, Bomfim said. If conditions are unfavorable for an initial public offering, the company will seek other sources of financing for expansion, he added.